Coventry Climax

Coventry Climax was a British fork-lift truck, fire pump, and specialty engine manufacturer.

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The engines

The OC was an 1122 cc straight-4 with bore of 63 mm and stroke of 90 mm with overhead inlet and side exhaust valves producing 34 bhp. It was introduced in the early 1930s and also built under licence by Triumph. A six cylinder version of the engine, the JM, was also made with a capacity of 1476 cc developing 42 bhp.

The FW 38 hp 1020cc straight-4 was adapted for racing as the 1097cc FWA, producing 72hp. Other FW variants included a tiny 750cc FWC used by Dan Gurney, the 1500cc FWB and the FWM marine engine. The marine engine was adapted to automotive use as the FWMA and used in Lotus cars and the Hillman Imp. Climax powered Lotus cars won the "Index of Performance" numerous times during the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The FPF was a pure-racing development of the FWB — it started life as a 1.5 L Formula Two engine, and was gradually enlarged as an F1 unit; a 2.0 L version took Stirling Moss and Maurice Trintignant to Cooper's first two Grand Prix victories against 2.5 L opposition; the engine later grew to a full-sized 2.5 L Formula One and grew to 2.7 L for Indy and the Tasman Formula, and even saw use as a stopgap in 1966 3.0 L Formula One racing.

One special engine from the company, developed from the marine engine, was the FWMV Coventry Climax V8. It produced 174 hp and was used by many racing cars from Lotus, including the Lotus 24, Lotus 25, and Lotus 33 and Cooper including the Formula Junior Cooper T51-Climax. Climax powered Lotus 25's and 33's won the Formula One World Championships in 1962 and 1965.

Climax built two notable engines unraced in their original form — first the V8 FPE ("Godiva"), which was intended for the start of the 2.5 L Formula One in 1954 (withdrawn due to fears about the rumoured power of Mercedes and other engines, but in fact it would have been competitive). Paul Emery acquired a Godiva and fitted it to an old F3 chassis to make the Shannon F1 car in 1966, and the engine later ran in something close to its original form in the Kieft Grand Prix car when that was finally finished in 2003. The other unraced engine was the flat-16 FWMW; work on this continued through the later years of the 1.5 L formula with Lotus and Brabham the likely recipients, but the formula ran out before it showed any clear advantage over the V8.

The F1 engines were as follows:

• 1954 2.5 litre V-8 2.94 x 2.80" 264 bhp @ 7,900 rpm Godiva
• 1959 2.5 litre 4 cyl 3.70 x 3.50" 220 bhp @6,500 rpm
• 1960 2.5 litre 4 cyl 3.70 x 3.54" 240 bhp @ 6,750 rpm
• 1960 1.5 litre 4 cyl 3.20 x 2.80" Formula 2
• 1961 2.75 litre 4 cyl 3.78 x 3.74" Tasman and Indianapolis
• 1961 1.5 litre 4 cyl 3.22 x 2.80" 150 bhp @ 7,500 rpm
• 1962 1.5 litre V-8 2.48 x 2.36" 180 bhp @ 8,500 rpm
• 1963 1.5 litre V-8 2.675 x 2.03" 195 bhp @ 9,500 rpm fuel injection
• 1964 1.5 litre V-8 2.85 x 1.79" 200 bhp @ 9,750 rpm
• 1965 1.5 litre V-8 2.85 x 1.79" 210 bhp @ 10,500 rpm 4 valve/cyl
• 1966 2.0 litre V-8 2.85 x 2.36" 245 bhp @ 9,000 rpm 4 valve/cyl

• 1965 1.5 litre F-16 2.13 x 1.60" 220/225 bhp @ 12,000 rpm 2 valve/cyl (209 bhp measured)

Climax-powered vehicles

Some notable Coventry Climax-powered cars:

• 1929 AJS Nine
• 1930 Crossley 10, 1122cc straight-4
• 1935 Triumph Gloria
• 1935 Crossley Regis, 1122cc 4 cylinder, 1476cc and 1640cc 6 cylinder
• 1936 Morgan 4-4, 1122cc straight-4
• 1957 Lotus Elite, 1216cc FWE
• 1958 TVR Grantura, 1216cc FWE

References

• 'Coventry Climax Racing Engines: The Definitive Development History' Author — Des Hammill (ISBN 1-903706-83-1)
• Coventry Climax Engines Ltd